Wilmington lawmakers lukewarm on bill to remove Berger

NEW HANOVER COUNTY, NC (WECT) - A dangerous distraction is how some New Hanover County Commissioners describe their coworker, Brian Berger.

Some had hoped state lawmakers would help them draft a bill to help get Berger out of office, but that's not looking promising.

The deadline to introduce new legislation has passed. Senator Thom Goolsby previously filed a blank bill that he could now use to help draft legislation to oust Berger, but he seemed lukewarm about that idea on Friday.

"I do not know," Goolsby said. "My bill is my bill. My bill is for an emergency situation....I'm willing to listen to anybody if we have a situation that requires that, but I don't have a comment on [Berger]. That's a county issue."

Goolsby inferred he would rather save his placeholder bill for a more dire county problem that could come up down the road.

In the past, Goolsby represented Berger in court as a lawyer. Berger has been arrested multiple times since being sworn in as a county commissioner in 2010.

Fellow lawmaker Rick Catlin was also non-committal on potential legislation. The state representative - who used to sit alongside Berger as a county commissioner expressed concern about creating legislation to remove an elected official from office, and says it's important to respect the voters' will.